"Copying Prohibited" error on one of three extenders

[isomerize]

Just started receiving the Copy Protection error a few weeks ago on one of three Xbox extenders. The other two are still working fine for all premium channels. The bad one will play non-copy protected channels without an issue until it I change the channel to a copy-protected channel, then nothing will play until I relaunch the extender session. Resetting PlayReady is a non-starter since I have several Tb's of copy protected recorded content and the other two extenders are functioning fine. Any ideas?

I checked the Mcx users and for some reason the first four are not active, so this one is actually Mcx7 even though I only have three extenders on the network. I'm guessing this is because of the upgrade from Win7 to Win8 where I had four extenders on Win7 (Echo is now obsolete on my set-up). Could I have hit a limit for the number of Mcx# users that PlayReady will authorize??

[adam1991]

Remove all extenders, reboot, and reinstall them one by one, checking for this error as you go.

[isomerize]

Good suggestion, but the one bad Xbox still has the Copying prohibited error. I changed the order which I added them so it's now Mcx5, but same error and no errors for the other two XBoxes.

I also swapped the HDMI cable out and no change. I exchanged the bad Xbox for one of the working ones on the same TV and everything played fine, so it certainly seems to be a problem with how this Xbox is being added as an extender and DRM settings.

Does anyone know where in the registry extenders are populated? I was hoping to learn something from that if possible.

[UCBearcat]

I don't know the 'exact' location in the registry for Extender info, but this might get you in the ballpark:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center

Also, it might not hurt to flush the cache on the XBox 360. If I recall, the first time you use a 360 as an extender, it downloads an update or something from XBox Live to work properly... again, I might be wrong.
By clearing the cache on the 360, it might force your XBox to re-download the update. Follow the link below for clearing cache on a 360.
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/ ... stem-cache

This tech article also describes what clearing the cache does... in case you're concerned about losing any data on your system.

[isomerize]

Still no luck. I cleared the cache and reconncected: error still there. Removed the extender, then cleared the cache, then reattached the extender and same error.

I already peaked around HKLM\software\Microsoft\windows\currentversion\mediacenter, but didn't see anything clearly related to the extender sessions. This is really weird since I've had this Xbox as a fully functioning extender for about 3yrs now and it's never had any specific issues.

I forgot to mention, though, that when adding this one as an extender I first get an error message in WMC saying there was a problem adding this extender. But if I go back and add the code again it works. I'll try cycling through codes till I get one that doesn't give me an error right off (fingers crossed).

*EDIT* Removed the extender again and now can add it back without the initial set-up error, but still getting the copy protected error. I'm about ready to give-up. Anybody got a spare "working" Xbox they want to sell?

[UCBearcat]

So here is another thought... When you remove the extender from the Media Center PC, does the User Profile disappear with it? i.e. C:\Users\MCx5-<computername>

I would think that if you remove an extender, this user profile should go with it. If not, it is possible that there is something jacked up in that profile. If the profile never leaves, this might explain it...

Again, I'm just throwing out guesses... maybe one will stick.

[isomerize]

yeah, the Mcx# profile will disappear if I remove it via WMC. if I just redo the setup from the xbox, it deletes it for a second then recreates it. i'm stumped too, I've never seen anything like this before. the other two extenders are working just fine, though. I even checked the router to make sure I wasn't porting a necessary connection from the xbox to something else, but the LAN IP doesn't show anything unusual (grasping at straws).

[UCBearcat]

For lack of a better solution... Is the TV and this Xbox capable of using component? I know it isn't as clean as HDMI, but you might be able to get your hands on an XBox360 component connection for cheap used. And component still looks pretty good.
At the very least, I know MS used to give composite connectors with every console.

I can't say it would eliminate the issue, but it might rule out any HDCP issues.

[isomerize]

Yeah that occurred to me too, but I hadn't tried it yet. Just connected it to another tv via component and same error. So we can rule out the connection type and anything related to the tv itself. I've resetup the connect dozens of times now and its localized to this particular Xbox. Btw, its not banned or anything like that, it was bought new in 2009 and worked great as an extended only until a few weeks ago. I guess I'll keep using it to watch copy freely content till I can get around to replacing it. Royal PITA!

[AnotherHal]

Did you ever get a solution to this? yesterday 6/12/2014 I just had this problem start on my 360 that I am using as an extender.

[poetuan]

Well I upgraded my computer and got the same messages. My fix was to run Digital Cable Advisor again. Actually I think I forgot to run it the first time when I upgraded. Works like a charm now. Hope this helps.